


Unexpected

by orphan_account



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou
Genre: Ayakashi, Bullying, Friendship, Gen, Gen Fic, Loneliness, Male-Female Friendship, Youkai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-17
Updated: 2012-03-17
Packaged: 2017-11-02 02:34:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/364044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Humans were easier to deal with than ayakashi. She knew what to expect. Or so she thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jan/gifts).



Humans were easier to deal with than ayakashi. She knew what to expect from them. Ayakashi were a bit trickier. Their whims not so predictable, and their ways didn't make sense from a human perspective typically. As many youkai as she'd faced in her life, she thought at times she might have a bit of understanding on some of the ways they were, but it was still strange to her.

Humans, they were cruel. That was easy enough to understand. If you stepped outside the box they had prepared in their mind of what you should be, or even if you hadn't done anything at all and they were bored, they'd bring out their fangs. Reiko had seen it many times. There were rarely questions--not that she could answer any--before they started throwing rocks and making up names. The same pattern she'd seen since as far back as she could remember--that was the way humans are. She looked at herself and saw someone equally cruel. She didn't feel bad about it. After all, humans are just that way.

That's what she'd thought until recently. A younger boy had been following her around lately, and playing and talking with her much like how the other children did with their friends. It surprised her that anyone would want to talk to the "weird girl". Too much of a risk. The "weirdness" rub off, as one kid had whispered to another once behind her back. She knew that wasn't true. You couldn't "catch" what she had. All that could be caught was the other children's ridicule.

 _Maybe he's stringing me along for a laugh._ The thought had crossed her mind a few times. What did she have to offer to a friendship? Everywhere she went, nothing good ever happened. Just yesterday, some high school kids from a different year had throw rocks at her while she was walking to meet the boy. If they'd seen him, they'd have probably called him names and thrown rocks at him too. Even the thought that he'd set it up briefly crossed her mind, but she didn't think that was true. That boy didn't do things like that.

Two hours left until school let's out. She tapped her pencil on the desk. The boy, Shigeru, had wanted to meet up again. He insisted that she come down to a nearby river and catch fish with him. It was something to do, better than going home. That boy was fun to play with too, in a different way than youkai.

The pencil slipped from her hand and rolled off the desk. Reiko looked around for where it'd gone. The pencil was directly under the desk over the boy sitting beside her. She leaned over to grab it, but it was out of her reach. She gave a meaningful look to the neighboring student. He took noticed of the pencil, and kicked it up several rows.

Reiko sighed, tempted to smack the boy with one of her textbooks. She refrained from doing so, having already gotten in trouble twice today. It was only a pencil.

While she got another pencil out, the same boy decided it'd be amusing to knock her textbook off her desk. The book went down with a loud thud. All eyes turned back to her. The teacher cleared his throat. "Natsume, is there a problem back there?"

"No, sir." She smiled, hiding her annoyance.

He gave her a suspicious glare. "Be more careful with your textbook."

As the teacher turned back around, the boy did what he'd done with her pencil. The book made a squeaking noise as it slid across the classroom floor.

"Natsume. See me after class." 

"Yes, sir." There was no point in arguing. No teacher ever believed her.

When she managed to get out of school, she wondered if Shigeru was still waiting for her. That was an odd feeling to her, having someone waiting on her. That was something for normal people.

Half way to the river, an unfamiliar youkai challenged her.

"Reiko, give me the Book of Friends!" The youkai made itself appear larger than before.

She'd heard that line a few times this week. They were challenging her a lot more than before. _Word about the book must really be getting around these days. _She grinned. "I must be getting popular. If you win, you can have it. If I win, your name is mine."__

The youkai wasn't very powerful. Another name for the book. There was a brief sense of satisfaction. Then, she remembered where she'd been going. Now, she was even later.

She ran. How late had it gotten?

And why was she running? He was just another human boy. He'd probably turn on her soon anyway. He probably didn't care like the other kids. Like everyone.

Her feet wouldn't stop.

At the river, the boy was sitting on the bank with a notebook out. She caught her breathe before approaching him.

"Hey." She waved.

"You're here! It was getting late. I didn't think you'd show up." He smiled. "What happened, Reiko?"

"Teacher kept me after class." Reiko sat down. "What are you doing? What happened to the fishing idea?"

"My teachers all gave me tons of homework! I'll never get it done today!" He yelled, exasperated. She noticed a few books laid out on the other side of him.

"Why didn't you go home instead?" She leaned back. "It'd probably be easier to work there, right?"

"But I told you to meet me here."

"So?"

"I can't ditch someone! I told you I'd be here, so I have to be here."

"If you say so." Reiko grabbed the worksheet out of the boy's hand. "Hmm. Let's see this homework of yours. Oh, you got the first problem wrong."

"What!" He snatched it back, pouting. "Did I really?"

"Yeah, you missed a step here. It's more like..." She took the kid's pencil and added in the missing part. "This. It looks like you forgot to do that on the other ones too."

"Oh...argh, I knew something was off. It's so hard to pay attention in class. My math teacher talks so dry and boring about everything. Hey...do you think you could go over some of this with me? I bet it'd be easier to understand if you explained it."

That was something new. No one had ever asked for her help on homework. "Sure. But you have to pay attention to me. Or else..."

"Or else what?" Shigeru tilted his head, not sure what to expect.

"You'll have to buy me ice cream. As much as I want." Reiko held one finger in the air and smirked. 

"I don't have any money on me for that." 

"Then you'd better pay attention." She gave him a light flick on the forehead.

Shigeru rubbed the spot she'd touched. "I think you just want free ice cream."

She laughed. It felt nice to not fake her reactions. _What would he say if he knew? Would he call me names too?_

Telling someone her secret. Why was she thinking about it? It would only end in disaster. At times, she thought he might have noticed something. He'd never said anything to her about it. There was no way he knew what was going on. She was safe. But something inside hurt more than usual. A sinking feeling. No, she couldn't say it. These little meetings would end then for sure. And besides that heavy feeling, there was something warm there too. She didn't want that to go away yet.

"So, are you ready?" Reiko picked up the boy's math book. "No dozing off with this teacher."

"Yes, ma'am." He replied jokingly. 

She laughed again, that warm feeling growing. Maybe humans weren't all cruel. Perhaps there were a few exceptions--just a few.


End file.
